Diabetes mellitus, often referred to as diabetes, is a chronic condition in which a person has elevated blood glucose levels that result from defects in the body's ability to produce and/or use insulin. For people with diabetes, successful management requires monitoring the effects lifestyle changes can have in both short-term and long-term time frames. Regular testing of their blood glucose level can be an important part of diabetes management as a way to track changes throughout the day. For example, portable handheld medical diagnostic devices are often employed to measure concentrations of biologically significant components of bodily fluids, such as, for example, glucose concentration in blood. To test glucose with a glucose meter, a small sample of blood may be placed on a disposable test strip. The portable handheld glucose meter may include a strip port that receives the disposable test strip. The test strip may be coated with chemicals (glucose oxidase, dehydrogenase, or hexokinase) that combine with glucose in blood allowing it to measure the concentration of glucose in the blood sample. The portable handheld glucose meter then displays the glucose concentration as a number (or glucose measurement value). As a result, the portable handheld medical diagnostic devices and their accessories may work together to measure the amount of glucose in blood and be used to monitor glucose levels in one's home, healthcare facility or other location, for example, by persons having diabetes or by a healthcare professional.
Patients and their healthcare professionals may thereby track and analyze glucose measurements over a period of time to assess changes in the patient over the course of a day, week or other desirable timeframe. Healthcare professionals may in turn recommend a therapeutic regimen for the person having diabetes. The regimen may provide advice on eating, exercise and so forth with the goal of keeping the person's blood glucose within a target range similar to normal physiological concentration. In many instances, the regimen will also include prescribed insulin dosages. These doses may be composed of both basal insulin for baseline glucose metabolism and bolus insulin for blood glucose correction and/or mealtime glucose metabolism. Since many factors may affect the blood glucose level of a person, it may be helpful to periodically review the history of the person's blood glucose level and adjust prescribed insulin dosages. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods for recommending insulin dosage adjustment for patients having diabetes. This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.